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“Everything was wonderful … The service, the presentation and the meal itself were awesome.”

Elaine's Story

Elaine Bell loves to cook, entertain, eat and enjoy good wine. What better combination of passions for the wine country’s premiere caterer! Growing up in Sonoma Valley, she spent many years in the family kitchen cooking for her parents and five siblings. Although she dreamed of becoming a professional flutist, at eighteen she traded in her Armstrong flute and sheet music for a champagne flute and recipes….a choice she has never regretted.

In 1978, at the Culinary Institute of America, her passion for food and wine exploded into a desire to learn the art of pairing foods with wines, particularly those from her back yard, Sonoma and Napa Counties. Working with the great chefs and wine makers of the California Wine Country, she became a pioneer in producing unique wine pairing events to promote these great wines around the world.

In 1981, Elaine opened one of the first catering companies in the wine country, Elaine Bell Catering Company. She, along with others, worked to create the current style and grace of wine country events. In those early days, she was noted for unhooking the Kenmore gas range in her home and transporting it out to vineyards. Her goal was to provide “restaurant” quality foods for the vintners, enabling them to entertain food and wine writers from all over the world in their vineyard settings. The idea was an overwhelming success.

Elaine enjoys traveling all over the world exploring new cuisines and cultures. She has camped in the wilds of Africa where she sautéed over an open fire, visited the spice farms of Zanzibar and attended sophisticated cooking classes in Southern France and across Italy.

Today, 30 years later, her remarkable team of professionals continues the tradition of excellent quality and integrity which has made her company sought after by clients both locally and internationally.